Barns And Granary At Wichenford Court

The barns and granary at Wichenford Court date back to around 1679, with additions made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The buildings are timber-framed, featuring brick infill in the lower panels and wattle infill in the upper panels, along with a sandstone rubble and brick plinth and tiled roofs. The structure has an L-shaped plan, consisting of an 8-framed-bay barn oriented on a southwest/northeast axis, with a 5-framed-bay barn attached to the southwest gable end.

The framing includes four square panels extending from the sill to the wall-plate, with long straight braces at the lower corners. The 8-bay barn includes a wagon bay with opposed, square-headed cart entries in the fifth bay from the northeast end. Large double doors face the roadside, although these are blocked with a small door inserted on the farmyard side. The five-bay barn features a central wagon bay with opposed square-headed cart entries, large double doors on the southwest elevation, and a farmyard entry that is also blocked with a small door.

Inside the 8-bay barn, there are single, trenched purlins and queen strut trusses at the gable ends and in the bays adjacent to the wagon bay, while the other five trusses have raking struts. The four bays to the northeast of the wagon bay are floored, and there are stalls for livestock on the ground floor. A small open doorway in the southwest gable end connects to the adjoining barn. The five-bay barn has double, trenched purlins, end queen strut trusses, and four intermediate raking strut trusses.

At the northeast gable end of the 8-bay barn is a 19th-century brick granary with a tiled roof, standing two stories tall and featuring a dentilled eaves cornice. It has five bays, with the main northeast elevation containing six ground floor windows, two first floor casements, four hoist doors, and three planked doors, all with cambered heads. There is an outshut at the angle with the barn at the northeast end. Additional 19th and 20th-century structures are present on the farmyard side of the larger barn. It is likely that many of the timbers used in the barns were repurposed from the former timber-framed medieval manor house that once stood on the site of the present Court, which was demolished in the late 17th century.